Educational Qualifications for Appointment as a Chaplain

• The educationally qualified applicant must possess a baccalaureate degree with not less than 120 semester hours (180 quarter hours) from a qualifying educational institution.
• The educationally qualified applicant must also possess a post-baccalaureate graduate degree in the field of theological or related studies from a qualifying educational institution.
  • A qualifying degree program will require no less than 72 semester hours (108 quarter hours) of graduate-level work.
  • Related studies may include graduate courses in pastoral counseling, social work, religious administration, and similar disciplines when one-half of the earned graduate credits include topics in general religion, world religions, the practice of religion, theology/religious philosophy, ethics, and/or the foundational writings from the applicant's religious tradition.

Qualifying Educational Institutions

• A qualifying educational institution is an accredited college, university, or school of theology listed in the current edition of the American Council on Education (ACE), Accredited Institutions of Post-Secondary Education, and relevant ACE supplements to that publication, or any unaccredited institution that meets the requirements below.
• An unaccredited educational institution may obtain designation as a qualifying educational institution for a specific applicant to the chaplaincy who graduated from that educational institution. To do this, the unaccredited institution must provide certification from registrars at three accredited educational institutions that maintain programs for the preparation of clergy that their educational institutions would have accepted at least 90 percent of the credit hours earned and courses leading to the awarding of the post-graduate degree in theological or related studies earned by that applicant at the unaccredited educational institution, as of the year of graduation.
• For an unaccredited educational institution to be designated as a qualifying educational institution, that educational institution must provide the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs certification from the registrars at three different accredited educational institutions that maintain programs for the preparation of clergy. The registrars' certification must list the major areas of study in which that educational institution would accept at least 90 percent of the credit hours earned by a student who was awarded a post-graduate degree in theological or related studies at the unaccredited educational institution and for what years that acceptance would be valid.
• For an unaccredited educational institution to be considered for designation as a qualifying educational institution, the unaccredited educational institution must submit the required documentation no later than the beginning of the academic year for which the unaccredited educational institution seeks to be designated a qualifying educational institution.
• Required documentation will be submitted to the Armed Forces Chaplains Board (AFCB). The AFCB will review the documentation for completeness prior to forwarding to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs for inclusion on the list of qualifying educational institutions for Reserve Officers. The required documentation must be sent to the following address:

Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy
ATTN: DASD(MPP)AFCB
4000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-4000

• Applicants with the required documentation may also be submitted at any time from unaccredited educational institutions requesting designation as a qualifying educational institution for prior school years.